Readers Rating

Reviews

Where to sleep in the neighborhood?

Local time by Lebeau Courally

Articles

Best emerging Chefs and creators

Chef Thomas Herman/Photo:Restaurant Herman

THE NORDIC WAVES-SCANDINAVIAN CHEFS: THOMAS HERMAN

The Nordic Waves is the term that I used to describe this group of chefs from all of Scandinavia, mainly from Sweden, Denmark and Norway. These chefs known for 3-4 years at international level have particularly been at the forefront over the past two years due to the recognition of New Nordic Cuisine and the emphasis on a cuisine close to nature and the local products. All this, without relying on the status attained by the restaurant Noma and Chef René Redzepi. But beyond fashions and trends of the moment, I discovered a high concentration of young chefs, innovative, creative, open to the world and all dedicated to their garden! To present theeight (8) chefs selected I decided to divide them into three little groups, not by country but by affinity.

This third block of Scandinavian chefs presents two young chefs that are very original, creative and totally dedicated at their cuisine: Thomas Herman (Herman) and Fredrik Andersson (Mistral).

Thomas Herman grew up in Southern Jutland (Denmark). Chef Herman’s restaurant located in the beautiful Hotel Nimb, in his kitchen, Thomas Hermanreinterprets the traditional Danish cuisine with the best products on time and a decidedly French influence. Its content is all precision and flavors, its container is certainly always brilliant!

6-(Scoffier) Are you part of the New Nordic Cuisine manifesto initiated by Claus Meyer and René Redzepi (Noma)? If yes, are you as strict (just local products) that René Redzepi in your recipes?

THerman-No. If I believe an ingredient tastes better from Alsace in France rather than from Lammefjorden in Denmark, I will use it. The taste is my biggest priority, but privately I support Danish suppliers.

7-(Scoffier) I know that the chef Pascal Barbot (L’Astrance) take a lot of time choosing and picking his produces at the market. Do you spend as much of time to choose and pick your produces?

THerman-The wrong ingredients can spoil the food, so spend a lot of time finding the right ingredients to bring out the best taste that will surprise our guests.

8-(Scoffier) Do you use some elements from molecular gastronomy or from new technology in your cooking techniques?

THerman- We use many of the new techniques every day. It is important for me and everyone in the kitchen to be aware of these new developments in order for us to improve and create a product of the highest quality.

9-(Scoffier) Do you have the responsibility for others restaurants and cuisine in the Nimb Hotel?

THerman- No, I am only responsible for Restaurant Herman.

10-(Scoffier) What is the importance of wine pairings in your menu at Herman?

THerman- For me it is important that everything complements each other in order to get the most out of all the tastes which the guest in presented with. It is an important part of the whole experience.

11-(Scoffier) Can you give us a detailed recipe (to do) that is characterized the cuisine of Thomas Herman?

THerman- I can give you a simple one…for example Oysters with vinegar marmalade, smoked oil and a granité made from brandy from the Southern part of the Danish island Funen.

Recipe T. Herman/Photo: Restaurant Herman

12-(Scoffier) What is your goal (ambitions) as a chef or for the restaurant? Do you think about write another book, a television show?

THerman- Time will tell! I have write two books. One book about the classic Danish food and one about the first year at Nimb.

RECIPE: Herman’s Danish Aebleskiver(Apple pastries)/NOTE: We don’t have a picture for the recipe below.

1. Melt the butter and fry the onions until they appear clear. Thoroughly drip the onions off in a siv, add salt and pepper, and sauter the onions together with the fresh bacon on a pan.

Aebleskive dough

1. Melt the butter slowly in a pot, let it cool off and mix it with the cream, a bit of powdered nutmeg and salt.

2. Add the flour bit by bit while stirring. Add the egg yolks bit by bit until the dough appears soft and smooth.

3. Add the bacon-onion mix and mix thoroughly until the bacon-onion mix is evenly spread out in the dough.

4. Whip the egg whites until they are stiff and slowly mix it into the dough.

5. Cook the dough in a warm Aebleskive-pan by adding approximately two tablespoons of dough into each hole by using the Ghee butter to grease the pan (alternatively you can use a muffin pan a bake them in the oven on 225 degrees).

6. Before serving, sprinkle each Aebleskive with the Vinegar topping by using a siv.

Vinegar topping

1.Mix the ingredients and put into a siv.

Beetroot jam

1. Whip agar-agar and the beetroot juice in a pot and bring it to a boil for 30 seconds while constantly stirring.

2. Pour the mix in to a container through a siv. Let the mix cool off in the refrigerator until it sets to a jam/gel (approximately 1 hour).

3. Blend the jam/gel until it is smooth. Put the mix back in the container and let it cool off for one more hour.

4. Serve with the Aebleskive in a little bowl on the side.

Ghee butter

1. Melt the butter and let it rest in the pot until the butter separates, leaving a clear surface.

2. Separate the clear butter in to a separate container. You do not need the sediment from the butter.

3. This clear butter is perfect to for all sorts of pan frying as it doesn’t burn when using a high temperature.

CPH Crawl 2/6 : Herman

Second stop on our tour around the best restaurants in Copenhagen was Herman at the Tivoli Gardens run by head chef Thomas Herman. Steve Plotnicki was already waiting for us when we got there.

I very much like the dining room at Herman. It’s classy and stylish and the professional, yet human and warm atmosphere makes me feel good and delighted just to be there. We were immediately welcomed with a delicious oyster prominently served on a glass bowl.

2005 Nicolas Joly, Les Vieux Clos, Savennières, Loire

Bisque of cep mushrooms with scallops from Faroe Islands,

funnel chanterelle, ash, fresh cheese and sherry

A wonderful balance characterized the bisque, juicy scallops, earthiness from the mushrooms and acidity from the subtle Sherry.

The crawlers

2007 Louis Carillon, Puligny-Montrachet, Les Perrières 1er Cru

North Sea turbot as lobscourse with winter truffles,

potatoes, butter from Nimb’s dairy and beetroot

The sweetness and the crispy textures from the cooked and raw pieces of beetroot were great with the delectable turbot, which was covered by a beetroot jelly. The black Melanosporum witt truffles were grated over the butter and offered an intense truffle flavour when it was spread on a piece of the excellent bread. Awesome.

Æbleskiver – batter balls

I completely felt seduced that night at Herman. Everything went completely smooth, both the dishes were stunning and the wines were so enjoyable. In fact, I was so delighted that I’m going back there for a full meal tonight!

Being the second restaurant on our tour and thus menu-wise at the entrees stage of the meal, I may have wished for lighter fish courses. On the other hand, these courses did match-up with Kiin Kiin’s street food, so in that sense it worked well. And really, the fact that the food was so good is the most important thing to me.

Too soon it was again time to leave and the sommelier Emil kindly escorted us across the dark and snow-covered garden to the next restaurant of our crawl: The Paul.

Thank you so much, guys!

VeryGoodFood.dk - Trine

The World's Best

The N° 1 of each country

The world's best restaurants is the list of the best restaurant in each country.

The 90plus rating is incomparable between different countries.

It is giving an indication however, of which restaurants are getting the highest scores in the world.